Method and apparatus for labeled toiletries

ABSTRACT

One embodiment of a unique method of enabling visually impaired consumers the ability to identify the contents of a particular toiletry bottle without having to open the container. Said method involves supplying the consumer with a specially designed toiletry bottle comprising both visually and tactilely readable indicia. Said indicia would inform both the visually impaired and all others capable of reading the indicia, what the contents of the container are without having to open said container.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

BACKGROUND

The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:

U.S. Patents Pat. No. Kind Code Issue Date Patentee 5,720,616 A Feb. 24, 1998 Schuler 6,047,992 A Apr. 11, 2000 Hampton 6,267,374 B1 Jul. 31, 2001 Bourbeau 7,246,749 B2 Jul. 24, 2007 Rumble 7,207,467 B1 Apr. 24, 2009 Raja

U.S. Patent Application Publications Publication Number Kind Code Publ. Date Applicant None found

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENT

None found

NONPATENT LITERATURE DOCUMENTS

None found

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT AND TRADE DRESS

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may show and/or describe matter which is or may become trade dress of the owner. The copyright and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright and trade dress rights whatsoever.

DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART

Various methods have been utilized for facilitating nonverbal communications with the visually impaired. The most common method of nonverbal communication with the visually impaired is Braille which is a widely used tactile method of communication. Braille is a six-position code of dots of two columns and three rows. Depending on the location and combination of the dots, letters, numbers, words or phrases are denoted. Where Braille is available, an individual can tactilely identify information placed on consumer products.

Braille is one of the only forms of tactile communication to be adapted for languages that do not use the Latin alphabet. Examples include Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese Braille. All these Latin-derived forms of Braille rely on a similar six dot cell. The combination of raised and lowered dots within a cells indicates to the reader what letter of the alphabet they are touching.

The visually impaired rely on Braille as the primary means of identification using words. Braille is found everywhere from elevator buttons to door signs letting individuals with little or no eyesight know important information through their hands instead of with their eyes. However, manufactures of toiletries have neglected to incorporate Braille into bottles and other containers holding their products. Therefore, a visually impaired customer would have no way of knowing what was inside one of these containers just by handling the outside. This makes it easy for the visually impaired to confuse conditioner with shampoo or shampoo with soap. At present there exists a need to incorporate Braille into the containers and caps of toiletries bottles in a way that would allow visually impaired users to know what was inside before they used it on themselves.

In the past, numerous methods have been suggested to identify the contents of toiletry bottles. However all of these methods have limitations which make them unsuitable for the visually impaired hotel guest:

-   -   (a) The known labeling systems not using raised characters are         of no assistance as identifiers to the visually impaired;     -   (b) The known labeling systems using raised characters are         limited to Latin characters;     -   (c) The known labeling systems do not use Braille;     -   (d) The known labeling systems are not cable of identifying to         the visually impaired any toiletries other than shampoo and         conditioner;     -   (e) The known labeling systems are not adapted to be integral         parts of the toiletry container; and     -   (f) The known system do not have both visually and tactile         readable indicia located on the toiletry container.

Therefore, there is a need for a system of labeling toiletries which utilizes tactilely identifiable and visually identifiable indicia to assist the visually impaired in identifying the contents of those toiletries such as shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers, and soaps. These items are commonly exposed to damps or wet environments, therefore such a system may be an integral part of the toiletry container or its cap to ensure that the indicia do not peel off when the containers get wet. The present invention effectuates these needs.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment, a unique method of enabling visually impaired consumer the ability to use their sense of touch to identify the contents of a toiletry bottle without having to dispense the contents of said bottle. Said method involves supplying the consumer with a specially designed toiletry bottle comprising both visually and tactilely readable indicia. Said indicia would inform both the visually impaired and all others capable of reading the different indicia, what the contents of the container are without having to open said container.

In one embodiment, said container may contain shampoo. By way of example and not limitation, in other embodiments, the container may contain conditioner, moisturizer, mouthwash, and liquid soap each contained in separate containers with respective content bearing indicia written in tactilely identifiable indicia on the outside of said container, its cap or both. In the shampoo embodiment, the bottle containing shampoo would have the word “shampoo” written in Braille or another tactilely readable indicia on the outside of the container. The bottle containing liquid soap would have the word “soap” written in Braille or other tactilely readable indicia on the outside of the bottle. And so on and so forth.

In yet another embodiment, the containers would comprise both a tactilely readable and visually readable description of the contents on the outside of the bottle.

One embodiment of the method and apparatus for labeled toiletries, the tactilely readable indicia would be written on the bottle cap. In this embodiment, the visually readable indicia would be found on the bottle.

Such a method and apparatus would ensure that all consumers benefit equally from the information found on the outside of conditioners, shampoos and other toiletries. Visually impaired consumers will no longer be troubled with issues associated with having to guess what the contents of a particular toiletry bottle are prior to opening the container.

Moreover, the use of tactilely readable indicia to describe the contents of a toiletry means the containers can be quickly and easily adapted for use all over the world. As mentioned above, many languages with Latin characters use Braille. By modifying the dot-cell combinations on the outside of the toiletry containers, the bottles can be adapted for use all around the world. Therefore, it is envisioned that in one embodiment of the method and apparatus for labeled toiletries, the contents of the shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, moisturizer and other toiletries can be written in forms of Braille including, but not limited to, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese Braille.

It is further envisioned that in another embodiment the tactilely readable content description may be integrally attached to the container. For example, the word “shampoo” outside of the shampoo bottle may be written in indicia with the dots molded into the bottle. In yet another embodiment, this will be made possible through the use of a mold with raised dots.

ADVANTAGES

Thus several advantages of one or more aspects are to provide:

-   -   (a) a method and apparatus which will allow the visually         impaired to quickly and easily identify and distinguish between         various toiletries commonly found in a bathroom,     -   (b) a variety of different toiletries each containing a         description of the contents written in tactilely readable         indicia on the outside of the container or the cap,     -   (c) a toiletry bottle having the entire word describing the         bottle contents spelled out in tactilely readable and visually         readable indicia,     -   (d) a toiletry bottle where the tactilely readable indicia are         integrally attached to the individual containers,     -   (e) a system which will allow toiletry bottle manufacturers to         have integral labels for the visually impaired and conveniently         switch between manufacturing bottles labeled in one language to         another (as in going from English Braille to Japanese Braille         while using the same raised dot cells to spell out complete         content descriptions as opposed to switching from Latin         characters to Japanese Hiragana).

These and other advantages of one or more aspects will become apparent from consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings. Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but as merely providing illustrations of some of several embodiments. For example, the integral tactilely readable indicia may be in English Braille in one embodiment and in Spanish Braille in another. The Braille dot cell system can be used to facilitate reading for the visually impaired in a variety of different languages making it a useful tool for the visually impaired all over the world. Thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the claims that are appended and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

The description of the invention which follows, together with the accompanying drawings should not be construed as limiting the invention to the examples shown and described, because those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will be able to devise other forms thereof within the ambit of the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figures

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toiletry bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a toiletry bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of a toiletry bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a profile view of a toiletry bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a second profile view of a toiletry bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a toiletry bottle according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a top view of a toiletry bottle according to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is illustrative of a shampoo embodiment of the present invention with both the tactile and visually readable indicia on the toiletry container.

Reference Numerals 100 labeled toiletry 110 container 130 cap 140 tactilely readable indicia 200 second labeled toiletry 210 second container 220 visually readable indicia 230 second cap 240 second tactilely readable indicia

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. The following explanation provides specific details for a thorough understanding of an enabling description for these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.

One embodiment of the method and apparatus for labeled toiletries is illustrated in FIG. 1-7. One embodiment encompasses a unique method of providing visually impaired individuals the ability to differentiate between different types of toiletries without having to open their containers 110.

Each toiletry container 110 can be manufactured with tactilely readable indicia 140 as part of the container 110, or the indicia 140 can be placed on the container afterwards. For example, it may be more feasible to create all of the containers 110 at once without differentiating them, and later labeling them according to the appropriate toiletry that is placed inside. In one embodiment, the containers may be three inches tall, two inches wide, and one inch deep, and typically can hold one ounce or less, but the size can vary from these dimensions.

The materials from which containers 110 may be made from comprise plastic, rubber, glass, flexible metals, or any other suitable material. The containers 110 may be coated with a material to provide better grip or to protect the contents. The shape of the containers 110 can vary from a simple tube to a capped bottle to a pump bottle. The placement of the lettering can be on the body of the container 110, on the top cap 130 of the container, or on the sealed portion of the container 210. A label can be placed on the container, and the label can comprise the Braille or raised lettering as opposed to placing such indicia on the container itself.

FIG. 1-7 illustrate one embodiment of the of a labeled toiletry 100 from multiple angles. The labeled toiletry 100 comprises a container 110 and a cap 130. The tactilely readable indicia 140 is placed on the exterior of the cap 130 where an individual will have little difficulty identifying the type of contained therein by using their fingers. While this is one embodiment of the container shape, containers of many different shapes and sizes may be used the better accommodate a particular use and toiletry contained within.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a labeled toiletry 200. The labeled toiletry 200 in FIG. 2 comprises a container 210 with visually readable indicia 220, and a cap 230. The second set of tactilely readable indicia 240 is placed on the exterior of the container 210 where a visually impaired individual will have little difficulty identifying the type of toiletry contained therein. While this is one embodiment of the container 210, containers of many different shapes and sizes may be used.

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the toiletry containers may be made from plastic or a variety of different materials. Accordingly, is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.

The teachings provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described herein. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. All of the above patents and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being refined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the method and apparatus for labeled toiletries with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be constructed to limit the method and apparatus to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly define such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the disclosed method and apparatus. The above detailed description of embodiments of said method and apparatus is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the precise form disclosed above or to a particular field of usage. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the toiletry containers are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible which those skilled in the relevant art will recognize.

While certain aspects of the toiletry containers are presented below in particular claim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of the toiletry containers in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventors reserve the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the method and apparatus and apparatus for labeled toiletries. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A system to aid the visually impaired in identifying toiletries comprising: a combination of a toiletry container with the contents spelled out in visually identifiable indicia on said bottle with a bottle cap that comprises the contents of said bottle written in tactilely identifiable indicia.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the tactilely identifiable indicia is Braille.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the visually identifiable indicia is English.
 4. A system to aid the visually impaired in identifying toiletries comprising: a combination of a toiletry container and a cap wherein the contents of said toiletry container are spelled out in visually identifiable indicia and tactilely identifiable indicia on said toiletry container.
 5. The system of claim 4 wherein the tactilely identifiable indicia is Braille.
 6. The system of claim 4 wherein the visually identifiable indicia is English. 